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Thursday, September 29, 2011

OHC - Pear... I Mean Apple Study

I know this weeks challenge was to study the pear tree. The problem is, in our neighbourhood, we are surrounded by loads of wonderful apple trees which just beg to be climbed, fruit picked and eaten on the spot! So we took a bit of liberty and focused on what is surrounding us in abundance at the moment ;o)

First up.... the walk. We appear to be experiencing a bit of an Indian summer here in England, so instead of reserving our walk for Friday (our nature study day) we decided to head out on Wednesday to take advantage of the sunshine, after all, you never know how long our sunny streak will keep on for!

We enjoyed the quiet of nature around us. The distant hum of life faintly reached our ears and provided an almost peaceful lullaby. The smell of fallen leaves tickled our senses. We listened to the birds calling in the trees and watched a few insects buzz busily about in some tall grass.

Of course you simply cannot see an apple tree laden with it's jewel colored fruit and not be tempted to pick and eat. Did Eve feel this way I wonder?

We were startled by this little fella! He was hoping about in the long grass. I'm not quite sure what he was doing there, but he certainly gave Miss J-L a fright!

The rest of our lesson happened today. First we watched this little video on Johnny Appleseed, just to get into the zone ;o)

I had done a little prep work by reading up on the apple tree from the Handbook of Nature Study, pages 665-670. We spent a short time discussing our observations of the apple trees. We noted that they are not very big trees - at least not the ones near us. The apples on our trees are all quite small, but we discussed the various types of apples that we have had in our fruit bowl over the years, which ones we enjoyed most, the different tastes and uses for various species of apple.

Next was nature journal time. We had cut an apple in two as Barb had recommended we do. I also wrote a poem or two on the blackboard for those who wanted to add a bit extra into their journals. I really love this time that we spend together working in our journals. It has become about so much more than nature. My girls open up and we end up chatting about this and that, whatever their hearts choose to share. Our journaling times seem to have grown comfortably longer. Most of our time is no longer spent trying to rush through our entries (although some of us below 5ft still have some days like that ;o) The girls really do enjoy recording their findings and are proud to show their journals to daddy when he gets home, or to friends. Here are this weeks entries from the girls...

5 comments:

Thank you for sharing your study. I am very excited to find this Johnny Appleseed video. I just wrote a post about the book and have now added the video to the post. This is one of our favorite books and we look forward to reading it each year. This video will enrich the experience. Thanks again!

I think your observation is a good one. As you spend more time outdoors and then allow time for follow up, nature study becomes something more than learning facts and trivia. It makes a common bond between family members. I loved that you adapted the challenge to fit your opportunity and the journals are very pretty.

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